Happy Sunday, readers! Welcome back to our weekly spotlight on Scandinavian crime fiction! If you’re new to CBTB, every Sunday this November, I’m spotlighting crime fiction from a particular Nordic country, and sharing a rundown of my personal favorite crime writers from that country. We’ve already explored Norwegian crime fiction, Swedish crime fiction, and Danish crime fiction, and this week, we’re “traveling” to beautiful Iceland! This blog post is going to be shorter than my previous Nordic Noir November posts for a very simple reason: when it comes to Icelandic crime fiction, I have two ride-or-die authors whose work I will literally always read, no matter what, and those are the two authors I want to spotlight for you all today. There are a number of fantastically talented Icelandic crime writers whose work has been translated to English (and many more whose work looks very intriguing, and I hope will be translated to English soon!), but as has been the case with all my previous installments in this series, I want to keep this list focused on highlighting just my personal favorite authors from each country. When it comes to Icelandic crime fiction, that means I’ve got two authors to spotlight for you today! Whether you love creepy, horror-inspired thrillers, modern mysteries with classic crime vibes, or gritty procedurals, my two favorite Icelandic crime writers have a book for you.
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CBTB's Best Nordic Noir of 2019
There's nothing I love more than a great Nordic Noir novel, and today’s blog post is dedicated to celebrating the best of the Scandinavian crime novels 2019 had to offer. 2019 saw the return of some of my personal favorite authors (new Nesbø book, here’s looking at you!) and introduced me to a number of new-to-me authors as well. As always with these sorts of lists, narrowing down my picks proved a very tricky task, but I’m absolutely confident that the titles listed here will deliver all the atmosphere, rich character development, and gritty mystery that any Nordic Noir reader could hope for. Whether you’re a longtime fan of this category of crime fiction or are new to the genre entirely, there’s a book for you on this list.
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CBTB's Essential Nordic Noir
Today’s blog post details my picks for essential Nordic Noir reads — aka the authors whose works you should check out to see if this crime fiction sub-genre is for you. This is by no means an exhaustive list - there are tons of fantastic crime writers hailing from Scandinavia - but it’s a great place to start if you’ve never tried Scandinavian crime fiction before, or if you’re trying to expand your Nordic Noir collection!
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Photo Tour of Siglufjörður with Ragnar Jonasson (DARK ICELAND)
If you haven't yet discovered Ragnar Jonasson's outstanding Dark Iceland mystery series, now is the perfect time to start. Influenced in equal measure by the stunning beauty of Iceland and the equally stunning plotting of Queen of Crime Agatha Christie, these books will make the perfect choice for winter reading material - or for any season, really. On December 5th, 2017, American readers are in for a treat: the second book in the Dark Iceland series, NIGHTBLIND, will be released in the US! To help celebrate this upcoming publication, I’m thrilled to provide you with an insider’s glimpse into Siglufjörður, the Icelandic town that provides the backdrop for this internationally-bestselling crime fiction series.
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